Some thoughts about Transformers 2...

So I watched Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen earlier today and while I said "holy balls" on Twitter, it is entertaining and slightly better than the first movie, but not much. I don't want to go on an epic rant on what I liked and hated, but I'll leave in short form. (Potential SPOILERS, so read at your own risk if u haven't seen it yet).

Pros:

• More of the robots in disguise > human interaction
• More fights between the Autobots and the Decepticons
• Very Michael Bay-ish with lots of explosions
• Something for everyone (Kids and nerds for the robots, the guys for crazy action and Megan Fox, and the ladies for Shia and Josh).

Cons:

• Longer than it should be (Its 2 and a half hours long!!)... Could be a better movie with some scenes taken out.
• Humor feels forced and unnecessary
• Predictable as expected... Would have been cool if a twist happened
• The Fallen wasn't all that, but he looks cool though
• Over-usage of the Linkin Park theme song (even though I like Linkin Park) just like the 1st movie.

I may seem nit picky but Transformers 2 is still an enjoyable summer blockbuster. It is obviously not the best movie out this season personally, but you're probably going to watch it anyway.

Devil May Cry 3 Appriecation Post

A NeoGAF thread regarding Devil May Cry 3 reminded me of how amazing this game it is and actually in my top 5 of best PS2 games in existence. After the disappointment that was DMC2, this franchise looked like it was done for, but Capcom decided to try again to bring it back to when it was good with the first game and succeeded. Taking place before DMC1 was arguably the best idea they came up with having a younger and cockier Dante take down his brother Vergil for his pursuit of the Sword of Sparda. This is also the first time in the storyline Dante gained his Devil Trigger powers and becoming the badass that he is opening up the "Devil May Cry" shop. In addition, it has been known that the original DMC3 was one of the hardest games in recent memory, but the challenge is good enough and so satisfying once you beat the game on the default difficulty or harder.

I actually never played the first game and started with the second, which was probably a mistake in the end. This third game exceeded everyone's expectations as it is filled with badassery from the beginning to end despite the difficulty. It pushed style to its limits at its time in the action genre as DMC3 introduced specific styles like Swordmaster, Gunslinger, Royal Guard, and Trickster. At that time, I preferred Trickster due to being more evasive against the opposition while each style catered to certain players who prefer swords, guns, or defense. Even the bosses were crazy and difficult, but very beatable. I can honestly say that the beginning of the game was pretty hard because you had limited abilities, but once you got Devil Trigger, it was pretty much on from there. All the boss battles with Vergil, you felt like you want to kick his ass so bad and once you do, it feels as satisfying as beating other memorable bosses in similar games.

Even though the story could be laughable, it is the badassery that counts and that's all you need. Also, the various weapons are very memorable from the standard Rebellion sword, the twin elemental swords, the guitar that spits out electricity, and the Beowulf gauntlets that has moves that remind you of the Street Fighter games. I would like to also the rockish soundtrack especially the theme song that to a point you're motivated to own the opposition. I even bought the Special Edition to play this awesomeness again which made the game easier and Vergil was playable despite its limitations, but still fun to play as like Dante. Despite Devil May Cry 4 being somewhat of a disappointment to some people like me because it didn't really recapture the magic DMC3 brought on, DMC3 was truly a special game for the genre at the time before God of War came around and westernized the genre. It is still nice to appreciate two styles of this genre whether by a Japanese direction with challenge or a westernized approach. Personally, my favorite memory of this game beating Vergil for the last time after many attempts shouting really loud that he deserved it. Now I'm reminded of this amazing game again, I kinda wish Capcom can bring it back to this current generation of consoles, but maybe its best it stays where it shined, which is on the PS2.

The latest on my YouTube channel for this week...

This could be a new feature I'll do here and it is somewhat a return of YouTube surfing from my old GameSpot blog, so I'll bring in the best of my YouTube channel every week even though I don't upload stuff of my own (Yeah, like that will happen).



We start off with a spinoff of the Tiger Woods game commercial where last year, Tiger actually pulled off the "Jesus Shot" for real, which is an infamous glitch in previous games. With Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 out, it looks like Rocco Mediate wants to take a stab of what Tiger did last year and attempts the shot on his own. Let's just say that things went differently for him.

Guitar Hero Smash Hits came out last week and even though it is more milking of the franchise by Activision, the game has been completely FCed by GuitarHeroPhenom and his last FC was the infamous GH3 classic, Dragonforce's "Through the Fire & Flames." We all know how impossibly hard this song is on Expert for the normal GH/RB player like me (well, used to be me), but just watch the amazing above. Actually, GH Smash Hits is worth it for like a third of the songs especially from Guitar Hero I, II, and 80s with a full band, but just wait for Guitar Hero 5 for the next real game if you're still interested in the franchise despite Activision's milking ways. I learned this the hard way basically, but I still support it however.

On the music end (even though u can check out that on the right side of this blog), I might as well bump my "guilty pleasure" song which is "Patron Tequila" by the Paradiso Girls. Yeah, the comparisons to Pussycat Dolls are there and it seems just like another one hit wonder, but it is hella catchy and I'm fan of the beat too. I still don't know why I like this song...

This just went up as I'm posting this as it is a new episode of The Dogface Show featuring SoCal SF4 players Kai and somuchdamage. If u follow Street Fighter IV seriously here at SoCal, Kai is a well known El Fuerte player and still thinks he's the worst character in the game (lol) and somuchdamage is a Sagat player who plays old school style firing Tiger Shots at will and gets the job done not being flashy. Kai puts out the challenge of money matching all the big names of East Coast at this year's Evo and could be interesting to see if Kai can pull this off especially with El Fuerte.

That's it for this week... I might post something about Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen since I'm watching it tomorrow morning.

Current plans for G Unit Ver1's World in the coming months.

Since its summer, I need to get back on the review train and hopefully have my reviews of inFAMOUS and Punch-Out!! this week. Plus, expect the usual Street Fighter IV shenanigans periodically as I continue to play it every now and then to get better (G2-D in Championship Mode) along with me going to SoCal SF4 events like this Saturday's Ladies of SF4 tourney at Arcade Infinity and John Rog's West Coast Warzone next month (that's a maybe). I don't see myself going to Evo next month at Vegas even though I wish I can go to live it up with the fighting game scene competing and hanging out with the best (I would just play SF4, KOF XII Tekken 6, HD Remix is a maybe, but I haven't played that in forever since SF4 came out).

The gaming queue as it stands and likely will change:

• The Conduit (Wii) - Thought about it, but will pass
• Fight Night Round 4 (PS3) - Passing on this too, UFC 2009 Undisputed is better for me even though I suck at that game now not playing it anymore.
• BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger (PS3) - The wheel of fate is turning next week and not sure I'll get it.
• King of Fighters XII (PS3) - Likely the next game I'll buy. I'm actually preferring this to BlazBlue and I hope it comes out early, but it is likely delayed to the end of July now or even August, which sucks.
• Wii Sports Resort (Wii) - Also buying this as well since its the Wii Sports sequel and it comes with MotionPlus... Not sure if I want to buy three more MotionPluses for an even multiplayer experience, we'll see.
• Marvel vs. Capcom 2 (PSN) - Also coming out next month... "I wanna take u for a ride!!"
• Fat Princess (PSN) - Who knows when this comes out this summer, it is shaping up to be the PSN's "Castle Crashers" in terms of hype for a downloadable game.
• Madden NFL 10 (PS3) - Actually skipping this year... then again that would likely change once its out.

As for this fall, the current plan is:

• Tekken 6 (PS3) - I need to pre-order the LE bundle like asap since it comes with a wireless Hori arcade stick and its 150 bucks, but its excuse to get a 2nd stick rather than getting another one too.
• DJ Hero (PS3) - If this comes out the same day as T6, then this is a pass.
• Uncharted 2 (PS3) - I already love this game by playing the MP beta and its my #1 on the most wanted for a reason.
• New Super Mario Bros. Wii - Likely my only Wii game for that time. Its 2D Mario with 4 players = Good for me!!

And of course, I hope this blog can reach out to more people and it has been a slow but satisfying process (on Feedmil now). Hopefully, big things are ahead, but we'll see on that.

Nathan Drake gets competitive... The Uncharted 2 MP Beta Hands-On Preview

So I have been playing the Uncharted 2 multiplayer "closed" beta ever since its release two weeks ago during E3 week. There have been lots of ways of people getting in this beta, whether by a Qore subscription, buying inFAMOUS, or by giveaways by various people. At least more and more people are getting in to try this out because this will be a big game for Sony and Naughty Dog as it comes out on the fall. The beta lasts I think till the end of this month as it consists of both co-op and competitive multiplayer with three maps (one for co-op and two for competitive). After playing it for a while and dealing with the patch, it is safe to say that Uncharted 2's multiplayer does not feel as tacked on as many people have feared since its announcement and it is actually fun if you love third-person competitive shooters.

The co-op mode only has one map in this beta which is an urban background that has shown already. Three players are required to play an online co-op game playing as Nathan, the new female introduced in this game Chloe, and Sully. Basically, you are going through sections of the main game with two more teammates as it is kill room after kill room with some sections requiring teamwork to proceed on. The computer A.I. will give you a fight, which is nice as making the wrong move such as going into open territory getting blasted by enemy fire would likely lead to death. At least there's a simple revive mechanic if your teammates are down for the count, but it is for a limited time like Gears of War. There's also a multiplier in which your score gets increased by killing enemies at a consistent rate and getting various awards. The co-op session does end with a tease of a "to be continued" type of deal as you receive your points towards your level.

The competitive multiplayer is the main attraction of this beta as it consists of two modes, team deathmatch and Plunder, a variation of Capture of Flag. Both modes are pretty self-explanatory and stuff you seen before, but with Uncharted's style of combat, it is surprisingly good with great maps (The Plaza and Village are the only ones playable) that are large enough to fit ten players. There is also light customization in which you choose the character you play as for either the hero or villain team and boosters, which are COD4-like perk abilities to raise ammo or hold a bigger clip for example. When the beta started, games were only up to 25 kills or three captures in Plunder, but recently the number to win was considered in both modes which allows for longer games like 50 kills and five captures. If you played a cover-based shooter like Gears of War or Army of Two, Uncharted 2 is no different at its core, but with its acrobatic controls and diverse settings to fight in, it does enough to separate itself from the rest of the pack. The shooting feels fine with all the weapons available like my personal favorite, the FAL Rifle, a burst rifle with a scope that reminds of Halo's Battle Rifle, the M79 grenade launcher, a portable minigun, shotguns, and other standard weapons you expect in a multiplayer shooter. Like the co-op, the ranking system consists of players getting kills and racking up the various awards like melee killing someone, getting a kill from the grave, and more.

Since Uncharted 2 was considered as the best game of E3 at many game sites, it is because of its amazing graphics and sound, which shows in this multiplayer beta. Even with playing the various maps, it still feels one of the best or perhaps the best looking PS3 game out. The characters look very detailed and alive with their acting and the backgrounds flat out look stunning. Of course, it is still a beta as there were some technical issues such as players getting stuck in various parts of the maps and levels getting reset, but it seems to be fixed by the recent patch that came out the other day. The sound department is no slouch either continuing with the epic theatrical soundtrack and loud sound effects from the weapons to the explosions to a point it feels like a high budget summer blockbuster.

The Uncharted 2 multiplayer beta has been an enjoyable experience despite my rank getting reset twice, which is okay since it is easy to rank up by racing up kills and awards. All the fears of it being just another mode in the already epic single player game are washed away as it is pretty fun. This is pretty good especially for Sony and Naughty Dog since Uncharted 2 is the PS3's biggest exclusive for the holiday season and it needs to deliver on being an amazing game. Even though I still look forward to the single player campaign more because of the storyline revolving around Nathan Drake's adventures, the multiplayer is pretty solid and will likely give the game the replayable legs that the first game needed. Plus, it is still the best looking game to come out for the PS3 this year, so if you're looking to get one game on PS3 this fall, count on Uncharted 2 to deliver and live up to the hype.

Budget-Priced Tapping!!! The Let's Tap Review

The Wii has been obviously been known as the casual gamer's machine and Sega is looking to tap with that market with the conveniently titled Let's Tap. Prope, the developer of this title, is headed by Yuji Naka, creator of the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, NiGHTS franchise, and Samba De Amigo, and it truly shows in his first retail game for the new developer. Let's Tap is pretty self-explanatory just by the title itself as the gameplay completely revolves around tapping on flat surfaces to a minigame collection that consists of five games. The game recognizes the tapping by setting the Wiimote down with the A button facing the surface you're using to tap. Unfortunately, this game does not come with a tapping box as seen on the box art above. Even the Best Buy "limited edition" comes with a tapping pad that is arguably false advertising because it is not really a tapping box other countries would get when they get this game even though it did come out in Japan first bundled with boxes. Anyway, Let's Tap is a whopping 30 dollars and it is truly worth a steal at that price because it is surprisingly one of the better casual games out on Wii.

Let's Tap consists of five mini-games as mentioned before. Tap Runner is the premiere mini-game in this collection as you guide a player through various obstacle courses racing against other opponents by tapping. Just tapping lightly allows your player to run and firmly tapping makes him jump, which is needed in various stages. This mini-game is pretty unique in a way that it tests your tapping abilities of when to tap firmly to jump or tapping softly when crossing a tightrope as one mistake can lead to defeat especially against the computer A.I. Rhythm Tap is a rhythm game similar to Samba De Amigo and Taiko Drum Master in which you tap to the beat. The way the tapping works depends on how loud you tap to accurately get a better score as there is no failure when playing the available songs. In a way, it is pretty forgiving how the game measures how loud you tap and you can get away from perfect stretches at times. The other reason what makes Rhythm Tap great is the energetic and charming soundtrack, consisting of various J-Pop and electronica like you hear in a DDR game, so it depends on your taste whether or not you enjoy that type of music to get enjoyment out of the mode.

The other mini-games however are hit and miss compared to Tap Runner and Rhythm Tap. Silent Blocks is a Jenga-like game where you have to tap softly to get rid of pieces of a tower like in Jenga or like playing Boom Blox with the Wiimote. Now it seems like a nice concept at first, but it seems flawed in execution and plus it is somewhat boring of a mode compared to the other mini-games. Bubble Yovager is also an interesting mode just by the concept alone, but also feels like it is missing something to make it better. This mini-game is a horizontal shooter guiding some guy by tapping softly to float and firmly to fire missiles and other power-ups. At least it is still unique in a way that you're a controlling a person by tapping to avoid obstacles, enemy fire, and blow up anything that comes up in your way, but without tapping controls, this would of been just another shump in a world where better shumps exist. Lastly, there is a visualizer mode controlled by tapping, which is self-explanatory as well as there are five visualizers you can mess around with tapping to make special effects appear. All of the mini-games in Let's Tap are playable with up to four players, which is neat especially for parties since it is a casual game and easy to pick up by just tapping.

Graphically, Let's Tap looks pretty good as a mini-game collection. It definitely has a Rez-like vibe when playing the mini-games and Tap Runner has its own visual style that seems somewhat futuristic racing in space. The visualizers do their job as well as being visualizers, but certainly there are better ones out there besides on Wii despite its interactivity. As for the sound, it will depend on whether or not you like J-Pop and electronica music as mentioned earlier because this game is very Japanese in terms of production on both audio and visuals. As a soundtrack that contains that type of music, it is actually one of the better ones around and just playing the song alone makes Rhythm Tap more replayable than trying to get S ranks.

Even though it is budget priced at 30 dollars, Let's Tap is one of the better casual games out on the Wii with its unique tapping controls. You can use any flat surface like a stool to play this game even though a box is highly recommended. The Tap Runner and Rhythm Tap mini-games are indeed the stars of this mini-game collection as the other ones feel somewhat boring compared to the other two despite all games having multiplayer with a maximum of four players. Of course, playing this alone will eventually be boring if you're just trying to get high scores and fast times, but the multiplayer makes it more replayable since it is easy and pick up and play in the end. Let's Tap also has connectivity with the WiiWare game Let's Catch in terms of unlocking more content, which is still doable in the game itself. After all, this is a great start for Yuji Naka's new company Prope as I look forward to what's next from them and Sega for starting their "Let's" series on the right track too.

Score = 8/10

Pros:

• Tapping controls actually work and it is forgiving that it doesn't feel like a gimmick.
• Tap Runner and Rhythm Tap are the stars of this mini-game collection.
• All five mini-games have multiplayer support with up to four players.
• Great soundtrack for Rhythm Tap if you're into that type of music.
• Budget priced at 30 dollars!!!

Cons:

• Silent Blocks and Bubble Voyager feel like hit and miss mini-games.
• If you don't have friends, playing this alone will eventually get boring other than improving high scores.

More Vegas shenanigans...

While I missed on graduation weekend for more colleges and universities back at home (Congrats to those who graduated - u know who u are...), I was at Las Vegas last weekend for the first time since that crazy trip back in late December. Friday night was just shenanigans as I was randomly walking around The Mirage and checked out who would be at the Jet nightclub. Turns out that the Beat Freaks from America's Best Dance Crew season 3 are there performing, and I was like I'm going in as an one man army. So, I jet-setted back to my room in the Palazzo to quickly change to "nightlife attire" in which I brought along just in case something like this would happen. I did see the crew walking along entering the club for a quick second or two while I was in line for about an hour alone, and then I got in around 12:30 am. I didn't think rolling into Jet alone would happen, but I got in no problem so that was cool. Now, I know if you're in a place like Jet, you're supposed to go crazy dancing like a freak and drinking till you can drink no longer. For me, however, I was just there to enjoy the music, the atmosphere, and the performance as I rolled in solo and I didn't want to do anything stupid, but considering the shy person that I am especially at a place like that, maybe that is a good thing even though it is Vegas. Then again, "Sandstorm" with the timed lights is pretty nuts. Just being in Jet for the second time made me realize how I missed the friends back at home and especially my original Jet partners in crime back in December (I wished they were there too for more good times).

Around 1:30 am, The Beat Freaks finally came out to perform a 10-15 minute dance medley. At first, I thought I missed the performance while I was in line and I was about to leave too, but good thing I waited around just in case. The major songs they danced to were "Universal Mind Control" by Common, "Boom Boom Pow" by Black Eyed Peas, and "Beggin" by Madcon. My view watching them was from the middle of the dance floor, which wasn't really the greatest view especially watching a dance group, but it was good enough for me even though I couldn't see the footwork (oh well). After they finished performing, I decided to leave as well and that was a fun time actually seeing them perform in person (Also they look cooler in person too).

The rest of the Vegas trip was pretty much chill as I went to as many hotels/casinos as I can to check out what's new and who's performing in the coming month. Some upcoming acts made me wish I would come back to Vegas like The Dream & Keri Hilson at the House of Blues on the 20th, Pitbull at LAX on the 26th, and Lil' Jon at Prive on the 27th. Last Saturday night, I didn't feel like going to the nightclubs as I wasn't really feeling the performances there such as Fat Joe at LAX, Eve at Pure, and the Ronnie G Audio & Visual Show at Jet. Plus, it was a Saturday night when there's more people in long lines ready to party and so on. I decided to go on my usual Vegas marathon walk going to the MGM Grand from the Palazzo to shop around looking at stuff if they're worth purchasing and stare at whatever is left of the Vegas casino arcade scene, which is indeed slowly dying as I mentioned before. Pretty much the new hot game at hotel/casino arcades is Guitar Hero Arcade, which is basically Guitar Hero III for the arcade, meaning it is a year or two late compared to console versions. The guitar has no whammy bar, but generates star power generously when playing those long notes and the fret buttons/strum bar felt fine as well as I didn't really have any problems. Then I was staring at Blazing Storm in GameWorks, a light gun shooter by Namco that is a combination of Time Crisis and Criterion's FPS Black with a huge emphasis on destruction. Plus, that game has Shadow of the Colossus-sized bosses to defeat as well, but my issue with the game as a whole is the choppy framerate, which is 30 frames per second. If it was at 60 frames, it would have been way better.

Okay, that's enough of my Vegas shenanigans. Other than making 8 bucks to 40 bucks at the slots yesterday, it was just another Vegas trip for me besides rolling into Jet solo. Other fails consisted of me not buying anything at all shopping-wise and staying alcohol free the whole trip (I thought about getting a Fat Tuesday to remind myself of the last time I had one when I completely lost it), but I made it up by drinking at Ra last night with the friends to celebrate the Lakers' title win. Hopefully, I will go back to a regular schedule and try to catch up on reviews like the Uncharted 2 MP Beta and inFAMOUS (I still wanna talk about it even though it has been 2 weeks since beating the good run and I want to start an evil run maybe today). Perhaps, Fat Princess, the highly anticipated PSN game of awesomeness will come out this week too and my mind will be blown. We'll see on that (Update - Just bought Let's Tap for the Wii.. This should be interesting).

(Pics courtesy of Beat Freaks' TwitPic)